Qi Jiguang was an outstanding patriotic general and hero of the Ming Dynasty, and because of his quick thinking and complete literary and martial arts, he was known as a "general poet" and "Confucian general". He was born a shogun, fought on the battlefield all his life, and made great contributions in many aspects, such as resisting the Wokou, subduing Hu Yu, training soldiers, building the Great Wall, improving weapons, and innovating in formations. At the same time, he also wrote books and lectures, and wrote the famous works of military science, "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Actual Record of Military Training", which made important contributions to the development of military scholarship in ancient China.
Although he made outstanding achievements in battle, in his later years he was overthrown by political parties and dismissed from office. In the end, he fell ill, and a generation of stars fell.
Qi Jiguang (1528-1587), Ziyuan Jing, Nantang, Late Mengzhu, Shandong Penglai people. He was born in the Shomen family, his father died when he was 17 years old, Qi Jiguang attacked his father Qi Jingtong's post, became the commander of Dengzhou Wei, although he was only responsible for managing the affairs of Tuntian in Dengzhou, he had the great ambition of "sealing the marquis is not my intention, but I hope that Hai Boping", it was also in Dengzhou that he first saw the evil deeds of the Wokou burning and looting, and also realized the harm of the Northern Barbarian Tatar invasion, so he wrote several military strategies such as "Bei li answer strategy".
In the thirty-second year of Jiajing (1553), due to his outstanding performance in the "Change of Gengshu" and the defense of Jizhou, Qi Jiguang was recommended by Zhang Juzheng to be promoted to the commander of the Shu Department, managing 25 guard posts in the 3 battalions of Dengzhou, Wenden, and Jimo, and was responsible for the defense of Wukou along the Coast of Shandong. In the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing (1555), in order to strengthen coastal border defenses, the Ming Dynasty set up the post of General of Ningshaotai, and Qi Jiguang was appointed to guard the three provinces of Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Taizhou, which were the areas where the Plague was rampant. Qi Jiguang was full of enthusiasm for serving the country, took on heavy responsibilities, and began his brilliant military career of more than 30 years.
After Qi Jiguang took office, he found that the Ming army at that time not only had poor combat effectiveness, but also had bad military discipline. They were like wolves and tigers in front of the people, but timid as rats in the presence of the Wokou. Among the people, it is said: "If you encounter a soldier, you can flee, but if you encounter a soldier, you will not be born." ”
With such an army, it was absolutely impossible to accomplish the heavy task of fighting against the Wokou, so Qi Jiguang decided to rebuild a new army. In a fortuitous miner's armed struggle incident, Qi Jiguang discovered that Yiwu's people's customs were fierce, so he immediately reported to Hu Zongxian, recruited more than 4,000 loyal and brave soldiers among the peasants and miners in Yiwu and Yongkang, trained and reorganized them, and finally trained into a well-trained, strict military discipline, and capable of recruiting good warriors, that is, the "Qi Family Army" that later made Wu Kou feel frightened and famous in history.
In qi jiguang's training of the "Qi family army," first of all, he educated them in defending the country and protecting the people, aroused their enthusiasm for resisting the Japanese and making meritorious contributions, and also strictly enforced military discipline and clearly distinguished rewards and punishments, so that they could follow the example of the "Yue Family Army" of the Southern Song Dynasty, defend the family and defend the country, not harass the people, and achieve "the unity of the soldiers and the people" and "one heart of all." Secondly, according to the terrain of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the operational characteristics of the Wokou, a "Mandarin Duck Array" composed of 12 people was created, and according to the actual combat situation, it can flexibly evolve into a variety of formations such as the "Three Talents Array" and the "Five Elements Array", which are invincible in the battle against the Wokou and show great might. In addition, it is equipped with new wolves, firearms, battleships and so on.
Since then, the "Qi family army" has achieved outstanding results in more than 80 battles with the Wokou, winning the great victories of Taizhou, Lin Dun, and Pinghaiwei, and in one fell swoop swept away the Wokou in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and other places, and the southeastern border of the Ming Dynasty.
The southern plague had been determined, but the northern war was not peaceful, and the Tatars invaded from time to time, which was a major hidden danger of the Ming Dynasty, so the imperial court summoned Qi Jiguang as the chief soldier, guarded the important towns of Jizhou, Yongping and Shanhai, and was appointed as the right governor. After Qi Jiguang took office, he summed up the great defects of the northern border defense, rectified them, organized the construction of more than 1,000 hollow enemy platforms, and created a composite "car battalion" formation. Before Qi Jiguang took office, in the past 17 years, Jizhou Town had changed 10 generals, but they all "led the crime to go", and after Qi Jiguang arrived, "in the town for sixteen years, while preparing for repairs, Jimen feasted." The successor, heeled the law, and for decades nothing happened.
Qi Jiguang was able to accomplish many miracles and stand in the annals of history, and in addition to his outstanding military talents and opportunities of the times, he was also inseparable from the support and weight of Tan Lun, Zhang Juzheng and other important members of the imperial court. During his tenure as commander-in-chief of Jizhou, Zhang Juzheng vigorously overcame the public opinion and acted vigorously, transferring officials who were opposed to Qi Jiguang out of Jizhou, so that Qi Jiguang could show his hands and feet and show his grand plans, so that he could give full play to his military talents. In 1582, after Zhang Juzheng's death, he was immediately liquidated by political enemies, Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng had a close relationship, and were therefore excluded, first transferred to Guangdong as a general officer, and then dismissed from office, living in poverty in his later years, not even having money to prolong medical treatment, and finally died in poverty at the age of 59.